#long ref

[phuzzyphan]

Dan and Phil Tag

I (@tacozebra051 on main but this isn’t going there lol) was tagged in the first-ever tag game I’m actually responding to, by the amazing and fabulous @adorkablephil, who shows up later in this post as well (hint, hint). Thanks, lovely! I usually avoid tags because I don’t like to make my blogs about me, but this one doesn’t do that and I’m very excited!

FAVORITES

What made you subscribe to Phil? Dan? Um... I just. Decided to! I knew DNP posted content that intersected a lot with my interests, so I just.. told myself I was gonna like them no matter what, and then I did! I was sick of feeling left out, lol.

How or when did you discover Phil? Dan? August 2016, during the first week of classes my sophomore year in college. About a year ago last week when I got tagged in this! As for the second part hHaha this is long cuz I have a great fondness for my phandom origin story. It’s funny, actually- I less "discovered" DNP and more... forcibly shoved them into my life? I've got a friend from high school who's been into them for years, saw TATINOF twice (and invited me once, I could kick myself), the whole nine yards, so I've always been just a little bit aware of dnp. I was pretty into YT for most of middle school (a different side of it, to be sure, but some main creators like nigahiga and Jenna Marbles bled over), so I knew vaguely who they were from that. AlsO, I had a lot of online friends in the “emo community” who insisted I’d like them if I liked the emo trinity. So DNP kept coming up in relation to things I already knew I liked, and their inclusion in that scene seemed really relatable to a bunch of people. I just sat down at my desk, pulled out my laptop, and decided to "get into" Dan and Phil, purely out of fomo at missing some centrally important part of emo tumblr culture. I remember specifically googling things like, "how to get into Dan and Phil," "order to watch Dan and Phil," "too many Dan and Phil videos help?", "how to get into fandom with 8 years of content?", before finding a chronological playlist of every video either of them have ever made, on all their channels, apart or together. All I did was click play. And the rest was history! How cheesy. I love it.

Does Phil have a particular mannerism you find endearing? Dan? Phil’s real smile with the tongue-in-teeth thing. I know that’s, like, everyone and their mother’s favorite, but it warms my heart every time I see someone so truly happy like that! Especially now that he doesn't cover it up with his hand so much, I feel doubly special. I also like the inside joke noise they do, which Dan usually starts, so we’ll count that. 

Dan Video: “My Bahamas TRAVEL DISASTER”- I think of them with Phil usually as the storyteller and Dan the comedian, so I absolutely love getting to hear Dan telling a long, involved story without it being sketchy. It’s dramatic, for goddamn sure. But not sketchy! (Sketchy as in sketch-like, like he wrote it and acted it out for YT. Not like borderline creepy lol)

Phil Video: “THE NOT-MILK CHALLENGE” because Phil has the absolute best commentary and I just love watching him be so fcking weird. That man owns my whole ass. What a weird video premise. I love him so. Much.

Gaming Video: If you had asked me before last week when I got tagged in this challenge, it would have been  “‘Stormy Ascent’ - THE HARDEST CRASH BANDICOOT LEVEL EVER,” but now it’s completely and totally “THE FINAL GOOGLE FEUD,” no question whatsoever. I feel like both of them let us see the actual true gaming dymanic of dnp without cutting the ridiculously fond bits, and they make my heart warm as hell.

Dan Photo: I read this and my brain, very insistently, gave me about 9? Atm, I’ve narrowed it to the insta story with the puppy filter from 8-31, and the II promo where he’s holding the handcuffs.

Phil Photo: The knees one. The Disney show one with the ripped jeans!!!! aaaAAAAHH!! (or that glasses one he posted from their balcony or whatever with the cherry blossoms!!

Dan and Phil Photo: This one, actually, from Phil’s tweet about starting the US tour.

Dan Instagram Story: Considering the vast wealth of content we’ve been given, it’s weak, but the Titus Andromedon Pinot Noir reference made me fall off my desk chair laughing. Or the flash flood one?? I adore getting to hear little casual jokes like that.

Phil Instagram Story: Rat basketball because I live for Phil making fun of Dan, honestly. Also his weird quiff that he made,,, a dick joke about?? Iconic. But uh that was in my state, the morning of my ii, so that one’s got a special place in my heart.

Dan Tweet: (and I’m not sorry about it either)

Phil Tweet: (I may or may not have already had this saved on my computer. The world will never know.)

Dan Live (ie-Live Show, Live Stream, Radio 1) Moment: He’s got a really early YouNow question about “are you ever surprised by how much your subscribers care about you,” and he just gushes about the quality of their fanbase for a minute or so, but he’s half-smiling the whole time and I just find it very endearing and sweet.

Phil Live (ie-Live Show, Live Stream, Radio 1) Moment: This is gonna sound bad, but that time he was on vacation and skyped in to the radio show and banted with Dan for a bit, and then Dan turned away and Phil was kinda crying when Dan couldn’t see? And the camera caught it? So Dan, like, dropped what he was doing and bent down to comfort Phil. Obviously, I hate for Phil that something particularly private got aired like that, but. He’s been mentioning recently that he likes his channel to be a happy place but also he feels like he’s trapped by his positive branding. So I like that really brief moment of vulnerability where he wasn’t perfectly-happy-all-the-time Phil.

Dan and Phil Live (ie-Live Show, Live Shows, Radio 1) Moment: First one to come to mind was the Phantom of the Opera karaoke bit in a liveshow. It’s got those weird 2012 vibes (”I think you should get more in-shot, I don’t have a disease!” “...I'm close enough.”), but hearing them sing together makes me really soft anyway. Especially when they’re singing Phantom!!

Fan Artist: WHOOO I KNOW THIS ONE IMMEDIATELY, OK it’s @yasaeh their art makes me actually weak I have their notifs on on literally every platform and like half of their posts bookmarked in a special folder on my browser heh.

Fanfiction Author: OKAY, OKAY, WHEN I SAID @adorkablephil WAS SHOWING UP AGAIN IN THIS POST I MEANT HEEEERE I honestly live for her fics alright. They’re always so.. I don’t have a word rn, but like they’re very vibrant? Even beyond the characterization and the plot, they just feel so wonderfully full to me. Fleshed out and descriptive in all the right ways without being too much! Also the plots are always super original and I just feel refreshed after reading them.  ❤ And also @leblonde , which uh. Comes as no surprise to literally anyone lol.

Fanfiction Story: UHHHH you can’t do this to me :(( K this is pretty funny, especially after just saying who my fave authors were, but. I have a few favorites and I’m not narrowing them down any, and they are: 

restless by overwhelmedbysonder

Steal My Heart (steal my whole life too) by auroraphilealis (xrosepetalsx), INeverHadMyInternetPhase 

So these are my two very very favorites, but the other three on my Very Important Fics To Never Lose list are (in no particular order):

Imaginary Friends by adorkablephil (kimberly_a)

i don't blame you much (for wanting to be free) by The_Blonde

when i sing, you sing harmonies by The_Blonde 

So, uh. I’m staying true to my branding at least a bit there. (Also I just linked from AO3 and not tumblr bc I have those links bookmarked and I’m lazy)

REQUESTS

Who should Dan collaborate with next? Phil? Together? Um, I actually don't keep up with any other YouTubers, so I dunno. I’d love another Tyler Oakley collab, tho! Those are always funny as all get-out.

What should Dan’s next merch include? Phil? Together? I’m just waiting for them to release, like, some nice autumn-y candles, honestly? Some throw blankets? I don’t remember whose idea that was but I saw it on twitter and. I need it now So.

What song best describes Dan? Oof so I really really strongly associate Rose-Colored Boy by Paramore with him? Which tbh sounds like I read too many pastel fics cuz he’s not particularly. Like that? But also he kinda IS, if you kinda think of him as being both people in the song (if that makes any sense). Like, he’s simultaneously “making all that noise about the world you want to see,” and optimistic about the future while still being cynical about the present.?   Dunno, I’ve probably thought about this too much.

What song best describes Phil? K, I promise I’m not being particularly demon rn, but Always by Erasure *cough* the Rainbow Unicorn Attack song *cough*!! Perhaps a little less rationale on this one than on Dan’s, but can you honestly tell me “always I wanna be with you and make believe with you” doesn’t sound like Phil to a T. Also featuring “wear no disguise for me, come into the open” and “hold on to the night, there will be no shame,” both of which make me think of Phil’s, like, exceptionally unique brand of creativity, and the fact that he’s always unapologetically himself, regardless of any past? anxiety he felt about it.

What song best describes their relationship? Hhaha I’ve got a phan playlist with ~200 songs on it fight me. I’m gonna spit off a couple, ok, because there are tOO. MANY. (Better Than I Know Myself, Bloom, Can't Help Falling In Love, Close Your Eyes, Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me, Happy Little Pill, I Found, Kaleidoscope Eyes, Medicine for Melancholy, Undisclosed Desires, You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), Youth) How was that, I kept off the super-cliche ones but pretend they’re there too. Also why so much Troye why are all his songs so perfect for them.

What should their next baking video be? I truly believe there’s no way they can top 2017. Like, it’s just not happening. But I’d love to watch them miserably fail at doing one of those cakes with the candies inside, and you cut them open and they all fall out? Like, candy corn or whatever? I think it’s a step above their pay grade but they’d try really hard!!

And to finish, If you could tell them one thing: Just that they changed my life and I’ll always be grateful to them for that. And that I really admire them. :)

TAGGED

Mkay I’m tagging the top dnp blogs in my notes but you don’t gotta do it if you don’t wanna! I know how that is. Just know that I love you!! :)

@lionheartnking , @loyal-phan , @jamaicer , @dead-because-phan, @cosmicdnp, @meabeck, @danielhowellbutnotascool, @phandommom, @h-owllslide, @notrishan

[phuzzyphan]

Another PSA

Here's my take. I haven't even WATCHED the ls yet, all the shit I'm seeing on my dash is making me want to wait a few days to open that can of worms. But from what I've seen so far, here's the deal:

I'm fucking proud of Dan for the video. I'm fucking proud of Dan for the deep and introspective content. And I'm fucking proud of Dan for the joke. I'm proud of Dan coming far enough to make that joke to us. And I'm proud of us for appreciating it /alongside/ the rest of the video.

Mostly.

What I'm NOT proud of are the negative comments about it that existed pre-ls. I'm not proud that we, a group who has been privy to Dan's struggles with acceptance in relation to his content, took Dan's tentative opportunity for a joke and used that as rationalization to press the matter far more than Dan was clearly comfortable with.

Here's a tip- if Dan was comfortable with talking about his sexuality the way some of y'all assumed he was after hearing that joke? He'd be out by now. And not just "I'm not straight, lol" like he is now (HE IS NOW). We'd have a coming-out video, or at least explicit acknowledgement of the fact. The details you're asking for would already be available to us. The fact that it's NOT like that? To ME implies that this joke is as far as Dan felt comfortable going. And we fucked even THAT up, holy shit.

There is a very real and very extreme difference between sharing the little bit of information Dan just did with us, in the context of something he deems more important than his sexuality, and asking to be scrutinized, labeled, criticized for, and insulted in the ways we've been doing. There is (SHOULD HAVE BEEN) a clear line between "Dan made a sex joke" and "Dan wants to talk about sex in a more serious light." Him bringing this up in a way that implied it was part of a joke does NOT imply he would like to be asked about it on any other terms.

His feelings about his sexuality are his business.

HIS FEELINGS ABOUT HIS SEXUALITY ARE HIS BUSINESS.

So if you're mad at Dan for his defensive reaction to our overdramatic and invasive interpretation of something he meant to be taken in a joking manner-

Don't be.

Be mad at the people who made him feel like such a reaction was the rational response to keep our violation of his trust and privacy rights under control.

[tacozebra051]

what she says: i’m fine.

what she means: In the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy, we are made aware that Katniss Everdeen is 16 at the start of the book. We are also told, during Peeta’s confession in the cave, that the first time he saw her was on their collective first day of school at the age of five, meaning that both Peeta and Katniss are the same age. If this is true, why, then, would Peeta be living alone in the Victor’s Village after his first Games? Katniss has moved her mother and Prim into the house with her, and Peeta’s mother, father, and two older brothers are still alive at this point, so why would he not have brought them with him? He still is a minor, after all. Also, why doesn’t Peeta work at the bakery from this point onwards? Was his relationship with his family that damaged after they told him they expected him to die in the Games? Even with his brothers, who are hardly ever mentioned? If this is the case, why, then, is be so broken up about their deaths later in the series? Did he really fight other kids to the death to make his way back home and then find that his family had preemptively cut him out of their life? That’s so sad

[tacozebra051]

Fandom Love Reminder ❤️

So, I’m a community member on the Supernatural Amino app (check it out! its like a tiny Tumblr for only SPN fans!), and I had a conversation with a fellow member, Sasstiel, today. They made a post that I felt the need to respond to, and we chatted about this issue for a bit. I feel like this issue is a really important one, in our fandom especially, but also in so many others, so I got Sasstiel’s permission to post our whole conversation here so we could get the word out about this problem. Sorry it’s so long, we’re both big talkers. 😉

Sasstiel’s original post beneath the cut, with our responses to each other alternating after.

Here’s the original post on the Amino website, with all the comments down below...

http://aminoapps.com/page/supernatural/9081756/real-talk-tentative-title

(Sasstiel)

Real Talk (tentative title)

This may or may not be long af… 😐

Anyway, I wouldn’t really call this a rant exactly. More like a collection of troubling observations. I feel as though I’ve properly acclimated and merged into the Supernatural fandom and SPN Family, so I think it’s about time I shared some of my thoughts… again.

For privacy sake, I will not be referring to specific accounts (primarily on Twitter), simply sharing what I’ve come across.

So! This will primarily revolve around some cases that have popped up on my Twitter feed both recently and in the past. I may also reiterate some personal opinions I feel are relevant.

The SPN Family and Supernatural fandom in general is a warm and welcoming group. That’s what we promote and that’s what newcomers get, 99% of the time. The actors are an amazing group of people, open, friendly, caring, just all around good hearted people, not what one would typically see from celebrities.

Then there are the charities and special causes; Random Acts (which I’d actually heard of months before starting Supernatural but hadn’t realized it was founded by Misha), Always Keep Fighting, You Are Not Alone, and so on… all amazing works!

Not that the anime/manga/comic fandoms are terrible, but you just don’t see the same level of admiration, love, and dedication.

But here’s the catch…

This is something that EVERY fandom has, not just Supernatural. The… highly invested… fan. The “crazy obsessed” fan. I mean, we all like to joke about being a crazy fan and who are we even kidding… obsessed and crazy holds some water when it comes to our love for the show, the actors, and what they stand for.

But here’s the thing, we all love the actors, we care about them and their causes. But there is a certain point where we need to step back.

There are fans out there who are more casual fans, they enjoy the show but aren’t completely emotionally invested. There are also fans who may not be fond of a particularly actor, does that make them any less a fan?

No… it’s like saying “I love dogs, but I don’t like greyhounds.”

What inspired this example?

I recently came across a post this person made on Twitter about how they were getting tired of seeing Misha Collins everywhere. That they didn’t like him.

GASP! I know, who could possibly dislike this ray of sunshine right?

The hellfire that rained down upon this person was swift and mostly without mercy.

Most of the comments consisted of the usual:

“If you don't have anything nice to say...” and “A true fan would love all the actors.” and “Then why are you looking at it...”

And so on....those were just the openers. The person replies to some of them and that's when the salt starts flying.

I did some digging on this person and came to discover that they are/were dealing with some pretty dark issues. Depression stood out the most, at least from my perspective.

They had even posted at one time that they used to like Misha but it was his fans that drove them away.

What does this tell us?

It's fair to say that a vast majority of us would defend these guys to the end. But when does it go to far? When does it have US turning into the bullies that they're fighting against?

If Jared or Jensen or Misha were to read those poisonous words, how would they feel knowing that they were being said in their name?

It's never fun to see people disliking our favorite actor; but people are not obligated to like them. People enjoy the show for different reasons and that should be respected.

If we really, truly, want to be considered a family then chastising someone because they don't like the same thing as everyone else needs to stop.

We, as a family, need to step back and reevaluate what it means to be a part of the SPN Family.

If we see fellow fans harassing others for WHATEVER reason, we should call them out on it.

We need to learn the difference between trolls just trying to get a rise, actual hateful people (need I remind of the ihatemishacollins/ihatemishacollinsday thing?) (though I feel this one may have been a very well played troll, who knows 🙄), and people who simply have different interests.

Conclusion

Now I know that a lot of fans aren't like this. But that doesn't change the fact that there are ones that are. And that kind of behavior is wrong.

When I read those comments and tweets I get this sick pit in my stomach. We're supposed to be open and accepting, even if we don't agree on everything, that doesn't mean bombarding those differing opinions with shade.

Basically...practice what you preach.

Fans should not have to be afraid to voice...perhaps an unpopular opinion. They should not have to be called “not a true fan” if they don't worship at the alter of Misha.

Has it never occurred that the more those people are bombarded, the more resentful they get?

On top of that, how many of us suffer from anxiety and depression? How many of us would want to have those things thrown at us just for voicing an opinion? I for one do deal with both and would be quite jaded towards those comments.

We're only adding to the problem by aggressively confronting these people. Let them enjoy the show for their own reasons.

If someone were to come up to me and say that they didn't like Misha Collins (in case it wasn't obvious, I do worship at the alter of Misha)...you know what I would say?

“Alright, what about Jared and Jensen? Do you like them?”

**

To each their own.**

No idea if any of this made any bit of sense...but yeah...

(Me)

I totally agree with this. I do think, though, that that person on Twitter saying they're getting tired of seeing Misha around is a bit if a pointless comment. I can't think of what they hoped to accomplish by that, and anyone can tell it would open the door to a lot of unnecessary (and wrongful, definitely) hate thrown at them. So while I am totally 100% for being hate-free and not trying to force our opinions on others, I also think it's prudent to not antagonize the kind of people who would say "You're not a true fan" with comments like that. The thing is, for most people, Misha Collins ISN'T all over. People who aren't in the fandom rarely know who he even is. So the only way that person was getting tired of seeing him all over would be for their dash to be full of SPN-related posts. And it's just an objective fact that Misha is a big part of this fandom, so to consciously look places where we all know he's gonna be, and then say you're tired of seeing him there is a little pointless, and only gives people an opportunity to be hurtful. As musch as I'm against hate in the first place I think we have to change ourselves first, and limiting our exposure to people who WILL hate is the clear first step.

❤️

(Sasstiel)

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree and this is my fault for not further clarifying (I typed this thing up while on break at work so it was/is a bit rushed

😅).

While true that this persons comment was rather...pointless and did indeed open the door to aggression, that doesn't mean people should go through it.

Using myself as an example, I love Pokemon, I follow Pokemon related stuff on other sites. While I am currently playing Pokemon Go I do get rather tired of seeing it everywhere

😐. And while I personally wouldn't go out saying that I hate the game, this other person has experienced enough (from my perspective at least) to feel the need to express this feeling. And they should have the right to.

I'm also not saying to antagonize the people who would say "you're not a true fan", I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is to just politely remind them that what they are saying is harmful.

Which is also where being vigilant for trolls comes in. Say they're reacting to a troll, let them know. Aka don't feed the troll basically.

The last thing I wanted to add was that the fact that this person is still active...ish, or at least following spn related stuff would suggest that they are still a fan of the show. Misha is a pretty big part of it but not everybody can handle...well...Misha

😂. So their irritation/frustration is understandable. How they dealt with it was not constructive, but a bit more understanding and compassion would have probably gone a longer way.

They also could be a very skilled troll. I want to lean towards them not being a troll...but they could be very...very skilled

😐.

(Me)

I totally agree, as well! I never meant to imply that this person "deserved" to go through what they did simply for sharing their [perhaps unpopular] opinion. I'm just trying to say that it's much easier to change ourselves than to change others, so a good way to avoid the hate they received would be to 1) avoid Misha as much as possible to prevent the possibility that they get fed up with him and post a message that will be hated on, despite the fact that this might mean even more withdrawal from the fandom 🙁 or 2) be aware that as of now, haters like this are everywhere, so to not express opinions which may open the door to hate if that hate can not be constructively dealt with. While I am in no way saying that the person shouldn't be able to express their opinion, I am saying that they might not be able to at the moment, as sad as that is, for their own protection. Until there is a real change (not only in this fandom, but in ALL fandom where this might apply), it might be best not to share such opinions publicly, unless you're trying to start a debate. It's a sad thing that people can't be free to express themselves fully without fear of backlash, but it seems to be a fact right now. So until there is a wider change made, the most we, as individuals, might be able to do is to limit our own exposure to places that hate might be thrown. We can't force others into stopping the criticism, in the same way that they can't force people to conform to their personal opinions. So maybe, while the word is (hopefully) being spread and the haters are (with any luck) seeing the error of their ways, we might just have to keep our heads down until the hate ends. We can't say things we know will draw hate and then complain that we were hated on until we make this a more widespread movement. As unfortunate as this fact is, we can't change it yet, and we won't ever be able to change it without hard work, so we can't act as if we have already changed it and then be surprised at the responses we get. We might just have to adapt our behavior to make it through the hate, until there has been a major change in fandom, and then bring back what should have been a right all along- the right to free speech without undue hatred.

(Sasstiel)

Well said

😀!

Though, I would prefer not to keep my head down. Nothing will change if that's all we do.

I'm not out to make people change one way or the other, I just feel that people should be informed. Which is why I shared this post, more so to shed light on these situations. Is there something we as a fandom can do?

While we aren't battling evil, I still feel the meaning is the same: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing."

Plus we can open dialogues like this!

If y’all feel so inclined, please spread this around. I think it’s something everyone needs to be aware of and work on, because a fandom community is a “safe space” for many people, where they feel they can be accepted unconditionally. This is slowly becoming no longer that case, and we need to do everything possible to keep fandoms hate-free environments! 💕 💕

[tacozebra051]

Do You Think John Winchester Was A Bad Father?

I answered this question on the Supernatural Amino app, and thought it was relevant and pretty darn good (if I do say so myself), so I'm posting it here too. ☆☆☆☆☆ I think he tried, sorta, to do what was best for them, but he let his own selfish desire to avenge Mary get in the way of the new life he should've been building with the boys. It bothers me that he expected Dean to act like an adult but still treated him like a child (ie, not confiding in him... just giving orders without explaining his motivation for doing so), which is why Dean is so desperate for John's approval. People close to John (ie, Bobby) tried to tell him what he was doing, and he pushed them away, only isolating himself further, and increasing this self-perpetuating downward spiral of increasingly acute loneliness leading to a harsher attitude with the boys. The more strict he is with them, the more he cuts himself off not only from developing his relationship with the boys themselves, but also with his friends who recognize that this isn't a good way to raise your kids, which in turn only makes him lonelier and more desperate to find Azazel and therefore even more controlling with Sam and Dean. He wanted to be good to them. But at the same time, it was his own self that stopped that from happening.